News

More than $90 million available to reduce air pollution

Funds being allocated by Bay Area Air Quality Management District

More than $90 million will be available from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District in 2016 and 2017 for grant projects and programs to reduce air pollution in the Bay Area, district officials said Wednesday.

The money has been allocated to fund more than a dozen different projects and programs from July 2016 to June 2017.

Installing electric vehicle charging stations, deploying electric vehicles in public and private fleets and purchasing lower emission school buses are just three examples of what the money can be used for, according to Air District officials.

A majority of pollution in urban areas is from the many cars, trucks and other vehicles in use. The rest comes from sources regulated by the air district, such as factories, refineries, dry cleaners and gas stations.

The Air District reduces air pollution in at least one way by offering incentives for solutions to cleaner air.

Last year the Air District gave away $60 million that was aimed at reducing diesel emissions, transitioning fleets of vehicles to zero-emission fuels, such as electricity and hydrogen, and encouraging transit and bicycling, according to district officials.

About half of the money the air district operates on comes from Proposition 1B, the Goods Movement Program. The program aims to reduce air pollution and health risks from the movement of freight on California's trade routes, district officials said.

The other half comes from the Carl Moyer Program, which is a state program to retrofit and replace engines, and the Air District's Transportation Fund for Clean Air and the Mobile Source Incentive Fund. Both collect money from a surcharge on motor vehicles registered in the Bay Area, according to district officials.

More information on Air District grant programs is available at www.baaqmd.gov/grant-funding or by calling the grant program information line at (415) 749-4994.